Coral care guide
What Does WYSIWYG Coral Mean?
WYSIWYG means What You See Is What You Get. In a coral listing, it means the individual frag or colony shown in the product photographs is the physical piece being offered for sale.
It identifies the piece. It does not freeze the coral’s color, inflation or posture forever.
WYSIWYG versus a representative photograph
| Listing type | What the photograph shows | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| WYSIWYG | The individual coral for sale | That photographed frag or colony |
| Cut to order | A mother colony or mature reference | A newly cut and healed frag from that colony |
| Representative frag | An example of the normal product | A similar frag that varies in shape and color balance |
| Colony reference | A mature grow-out example | The size or frag format described in the listing |
None of these formats is inherently dishonest. The important part is stating clearly which one applies and describing expected variation.
What WYSIWYG should tell you
A useful WYSIWYG listing should let you evaluate:
- The number of polyps, heads or branches visible
- Overall frag or colony shape
- Tissue coverage and obvious skeletal exposure
- The plug, tile or rock attached to the coral
- Visible color pattern under the stated lighting
- Any damage or unusual feature apparent when photographed
Scale can still be difficult in a close-up image. Measurements, plug size or multiple angles make the listing more useful.
What WYSIWYG does not guarantee
Corals are living animals. Appearance can change during shipping and after entering a different aquarium.
WYSIWYG does not guarantee identical:
- Polyp extension immediately after arrival
- Inflation after shipping
- Color under a different spectrum or camera white balance
- Growth shape after the coral establishes
- Long-term color under different nutrients, PAR and flow
- Survival regardless of acclimation or aquarium conditions
The photograph documents the piece at a point in time. Good husbandry determines what happens next.
Blue lighting, filters and coral color
Fluorescent coral is often photographed under blue reef lighting because that is how many collectors view it. Orange filters can correct the overwhelming blue cast and make fluorescence easier for a camera to record.
That does not mean the coral will look identical under white lighting. Spectrum, intensity, exposure, editing and the display viewing conditions all influence the final image. A responsible listing should explain the photography conditions and avoid turning saturation into fiction.
Compare images on a reasonably calibrated screen and look for consistency across the seller’s catalog rather than treating a single glowing pixel as a contract.
How Reef Culture Co. uses WYSIWYG
When a Reef Culture Co. product is labeled WYSIWYG, the photographed coral is the piece offered unless the listing explicitly says otherwise. Cut-to-order listings use mother-colony photography and explain the expected frag size and healing period.
Our photographs are intended to represent the coral honestly under reef lighting. Color in your aquarium will still depend on spectrum, PAR, nutrients, flow, maturity and shipping recovery.
How to evaluate a coral listing
Before ordering, check:
- Whether the listing says WYSIWYG, representative or cut to order.
- The stated polyp, head or frag size.
- Whether photography conditions are described.
- The healing window for newly cut coral.
- The shipping and arrive-alive policy.
- The appropriate care guide and whether your aquarium is ready.
If the listing is unclear, ask before buying. A two-line clarification is considerably cheaper than discovering that a colony photograph represented a three-quarter-inch frag.
Final take
WYSIWYG means you are choosing the individual coral shown. It gives you better control over shape, size and visible coloration, but it cannot guarantee how a living coral will look after shipping or under a different reef system.